KUCHING: Even though she embraced Islam more than four years ago, 28-year-old Anna Frincus continues the tradition of celebrating Christmas and Gawai with her family in Sri Aman every year.
The mother of one admits to always being excited and happy to celebrate these festivities with her non-Muslim family.
“Every year, my husband and I return to my parents’ home in the rural area of Sri Aman to celebrate Gawai and Christmas with the family.
“Since embracing Islam, I have never missed celebrating these festivals, including Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha, with my family.
“We even make preparations, including buying new clothes,” she said when interviewed at the Kuching Sentral Bus Terminal on Wednesday (Dec 20)
Anna, along with her husband, Mohd Roshaizal Abdullah, 27, are among Sarawak residents excited to return to their hometowns to celebrate Christmas in a few days.
According to her, they have booked bus tickets from Kuching to Sri Aman early to ensure they secure seats.
“We bought tickets for RM25 each, and despite the recent increase in Covid-19 cases, it doesn’t dampen our spirits to celebrate Christmas. We just take precautions as long as we can be with our family,” she said.
Roshaizal added that his wife’s family respects him as a Muslim.
During Ramadan, for instance, they refrain from eating in front of the couple when they return to the village.
“Every time we head back to my wife’s hometown, I am excited to see the Christian customs which are different from Malay traditions. However, there is not much difference between Malay and Iban customs,” he said.
Katherina Erika, 26, from Sibu, stated that this year she was not going to miss the opportunity to return to her hometown in Sibu to celebrate Christmas with her family.
Living in Negeri Sembilan with her husband, who is from Sibu, she acknowledged feeling somewhat sad because her husband could not accompany her.
However, she is grateful to have the opportunity to meet her family after a year of not returning to Sarawak
“I arrived from Peninsular Malaysia last Saturday, and today (Wednesday) I bought a bus ticket from Kuching to Sibu for a lower price, for below RM90, compared to the flight ticket from Kuala Lumpur to Sibu, which cost around RM1,000.
“Fortunately, there are still tickets available to go to Sibu. Even though the bus will depart at 10pm, it’s fine, as long as I can go back to the village to celebrate Christmas. That’s sufficient,” she said, adding that she plans to head back to Negeri Sembilan in February.
Meanwhile, bus ticket supervisor Marina Kadir, 63, said tickets for the holiday season have been completely sold out this week for travel between Kuching to Miri, Sibu, Bintulu, Mukah, Sri Aman, Kapit, and other areas in Sarawak.
“Usually, tickets are sold out, for example, from Dec 21 to Dec 24, from Kuching to all areas in Sarawak. At the moment, additional bus services are not yet available.
“We usually provide additional buses at 10.05pm to go to Sibu, and for next week, starting from Dec 24, there are still seats available for the 2pm, 5pm, 7pm, 9pm, and 10pm services,” she said, adding that nine buses belonging to the company she works for will operate every day to meet customer demand.
Another bus ticket supervisor, Schlyer, 26, mentioned that the high demand for bus tickets during this Christmas celebration is due to the long school holiday season.
“We monitor passenger capacity on the bus. We won’t take too much luggage to ensure passenger safety during every celebration like Christmas and Hari Raya.
“We also always ensure the bus is in good condition, and the bus driver is healthy to ensure the safety of the bus passengers,” said Schlyer.
